Apples Are for Eating
by Pheep
Summary: A very KD ficlet involving eyebrow-raising, nervousness, the ways of the Yamani, and of course apples. Inspired by the manga (comic) series MARS. Reviews shall be cherished forevermore.


A/N: Ah, another ficlet written! I am happy. Oh so happy. I hope you are happy too, oh lovely reader. Anyway, before we begin, I should mention that the opening line was originally from a scene in a manga (Japanese comic) series called MARS, and that yes, such a custom does actually exist in Japan (this second part of the disclaimer will make more sense further into the fic). And I don't own the characters, but you knew that. (I just control their every move like puppets in MS word. Hurrah for parentheses!) 

...So then. Enjoy. :D

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Apples Are for Eating

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"Apples are for eating, not for throwing."

Dom turned his head and gazed up at the lady knight, his eyebrows raising at her innocently. Kel stood at the side of the couch he that was laying on, one hand on her hip, the other holding a fresh red apple which had been caught in midair above his own outstretched hand. She stared down at him thoughtfully for a few seconds, then slowly brought the apple to her lips, biting into it with a deliberate crunch and blinking coolly at Dom's heartbroken expression. 

He continued pouting, his eyes widening gradually as she chewed and swallowed. A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. "Fate is a cruel mistress, Dom," she told him, very matter-of-factly.

"You're the one that's cruel," he retorted bluntly. "Now may I have my apple back?"

"Why would you want it? I've already taken a bite out of it."

"So?"

She blinked at him, pausing uncertainly, and he stared up at her expectantly with one brow arched. She averted her eyes by looking back to the apple, and promptly took another bite. This earned her another grieving look from Dom, and she raised her eyebrows at him pointedly, chewing a bit more loudly. 

Dom sighed theatrically, then sat up and moved over on his couch. He patted the seat next to him and smiled, seeming to have forgotten the apple for now. Kel smiled back and sat down next to him, and it was only a few moments later that she noticed an arm casually snaking around her shoulders. His hand reached for the apple, but Kel was ready, and she quickly tossed it into her other hand, grinning. 

This had been a mistake; Dom reached over with his other arm, and Kel, preoccupied with the realization that his arms were now around her (regardless of the situation), was unable to stop him as he grabbed the apple with a triumphant laugh, then quickly leaned back and took a large bite out of it. She glared at him, and he smiled a broad, content smile, slowly chewing his prize.

"Cheater."

He raised a brow at her, looking amused. "Am I? How so?"

She continued glaring at him, a faint blush rising in her cheeks. After a while she sighed and leaned back against the couch, and when she did she was surprised to note that his arm was still behind her. Fortunately, she managed to keep her face mostly blank as she settled back, and made a point of looking comfortable. "N-never mind." 

Dom grinned at her, and took another bite from the apple; Kel glanced at it out of the corner of her eye, and found herself staring at it as a vague memory of a rather trivial Yamani custom came to mind. Whenever two people shared a drink or a piece of food, or had indirect contact with each other's lips in some way, it could be considered an "indirect kiss." She remembered overhearing some of the girls back at the Islands gossiping about this on at least one occasion, but at the time she had simply ignored it. 

Trying to shoo this concept from her thoughts (and failing), she was caught off guard when Dom eventually asked, "Are you really that hungry, Lady Knight?" 

Kel looked up to see him smiling at her, his blue eyes teasing. Immediately deciding against looking at his eyes for very long, she glanced away at nothing in particular, and cursed mentally as she felt her cheeks growing warm again. "N-no," she said quickly. Stop the stuttering, she commanded herself. Stop it right now, or I'll be led to smack you later.

"Why the glazed, longing look, then?" he inquired, referring to how she had been staring at the apple previously. Gods, how long had he been watching? Too long, she decided. In any case it was too long for him to be saying that now. Saying that - he probably knew what she had been thinking of, too! He probably didn't know Yamani culture all that intimately, but still, it wasn't too hard to figure out--

"Kel?" he asked, sounding concerned now because of her silence. "What's the matter?"

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Damn it! And now he was being nice again. Always so nice, it was terrible. Hardly fair to her at all. She started to get up, feeling more than a little desperate now. "Nothing, don't worry," she told him. Ah, no stuttering, good! And her voice had only wavered a little bit. Victory was hers.

Unfortunately, she had forgotten Dom's arm around her shoulders, and it had responded rather quickly when she started to move away. Kel was swiftly pulled back down onto the couch, and his arm was now looped around her firmly in order to keep her there. She struggled half-heartedly for a moment, but the fighting spirit had been drained out of her, and as it was it took nearly all of the willpower she had not to whimper quietly before she forced herself to glance back up at Dom. 

Dom gazed at her searchingly, and appeared to be in deep concentration. "Now, will you tell me what this is about?" he asked, his voice gentle and bearing just the right amount of coaxing. Oh, he was good. He was very good....

"Um. In the Yamani Islands." Oh yes. That was a smooth, articulate excuse if she had ever heard one. 

"In the Yamani Islands..." he prompted patiently. He didn't seem very phased by her sudden lack of intelligence. She supposed that a lot of women suffered from it around him. She looked down. Silly court ladies. Not her. No.

"...They...have a custom." ...Her relief at forming a complete sentence this time was quite discouraging.

"Do they. What is this custom of theirs?" he asked, sounding polite and curious and perfectly normal. How _dare_ he.

"Uh...When you...When two people share a, a drink, or food - um - or when their..." why did it have to be so hard to explain this? "...lips meet indirectly, s-somehow...."

"Aha..." Dom said, understanding clear in his voice. Seconds passed. Kel's cheeks burned. Well. This was awkward. 

"And, they call it an indirect kiss," she added, her face growing steadily warmer with each word - particularly the last. Oh, _good_, she thought, rather disgustedly. That's going to help things for sure. Just bloody _perfect_.

"I see..." Dom said slowly. A very awful moment passed, before he cleared his throat, and then asked, "...Would you like a more direct kiss, then?"

Kel blinked, temporarily stunned by the question. When she did finally manage to lift her head, it was with the help of Dom's hand, which had reached under her chin and turned her face towards him. His lips touched hers, and the kiss tasted vaguely of, not surprisingly, apples. Very warm, sweet apples. That would be favorite food for a long time now, she was sure. She told him as much once her mouth was free again, and this earned her another extensive round of very warm kisses. 

Oh, yes, for a very long time. She was quite sure.

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A/N: Yee. That was a lot of fun to write. And all in under 24 hours, too! I love it when I finish writing something that fast. It's a very nice change. ^^ And I'm pretty proud of this one, so I'm also pleased with myself for writing something I consider better-than-decent in an unusually short amount of time. Yeah, go that. 

Huzzah. Reviews are welcome. So very welcome. Welcome to the point that I really must insist that you review. Do you hear, I am _insisting_, and I am insisting quite persistently. So review. Please.

Thankee.

~Pheep 


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